Setting up schedule approvals

Owned by Frank Gambino
Last updated: Oct 28, 2020

This documentation explains how to set up schedule approvals (in the Manage Schedules screen) for your property. 

Note: Schedule approvals are not enabled by default. If you want schedule approvals turned on, submit a ticket to UniFocus Partner Success (support@unifocus.com).


 Overview of the schedule approval process, users, and permissions

 Click here to see the overview.

The general process of schedule approvals includes the following steps:

  1. A user writes the schedules and then marks them as complete when they are ready for approval.
  2. A user reviews the completed schedules and determines whether to grant approval. Once schedules are approved, they are ready for publishing.
  3. A user publishes the completed schedules so that they are available to employees. Employees view their schedules in the UniFocus Mobile App.

There are three separate permissions to address the three types of tasks that users can perform on the Schedule Approvals screens:

  • Write schedules and mark schedules as complete—Users will see the Mark as Complete button if they have access to the Scheduling screens and have Labor Structure permissions to jobs requiring approval. They are authorized to mark schedules as complete.
  • Approve/unapprove schedules—Users with Labor Structure permissions to approve schedules will see the Approve and UnApprove buttons. They are authorized to approve and unapprove schedules.
  • Publish schedules—Users with this permission will see the Publish button. They are authorized to publish schedules.

You can assign these permissions to match the responsibilities of your managers and the scheduling workflow of your organization. For example, you might split the three tasks between two different users. You can grant one user the permission to mark schedules as complete and another user the permission to both approve/unapprove and publish the schedules.


Process for setting up Schedule Approvals

StepActionProcedureFor More Information
1Activate Schedule Approvals.
  • Submit a ticket to UniFocus Support (support@unifocus.com) requesting that schedules approvals be activated for your property.
If you have questions, contact your UniFocus Partner Relationship Manager.
2Determine which jobs require approval in the Labor Structure.
  1. In the toolbar, select the System Setup icon ( ).
  2. From the drop-down list, select Labor Structure.
    The Labor Structure screen appears.
  3. Expand the tree menu to view the jobs that require schedule approvals.
  4. Scroll horizontally to the Scheduler section and select the Requires Approval check box(es) for the appropriate labor structure levels.

    The schedules for the selected labor structure levels now require approval before a designated user can publish the schedules.

See the following help pages:

3Ensure that the Labor Structure settings are appropriately configured.
  • Stay on the Labor Structure screen and make sure that the following settings in the General section are appropriately configured:
    • Variance Percentages—Defines the tolerance range used when comparing the percentage of projected hours to scheduled hours.
    • OT Variance Percentages—Overtime (OT) as a percent of total hours.


See the following help pages:

4Determine who completes schedules and who approves schedules.
  1. In the toolbar, select the Main Menu icon ( ).
  2. From the drop-down list, select Admin > Security.
    The Security Screen appears.
  3. Complete the following steps for each user that requires access to Schedule Approvals.
    1. In the user pane, click to select the user.
    2. Click the Labor Structure tab.
    3. Select the Approval check box.

See the following help pages: